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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 703 records · Page 39

Test of Causal Nonlinear Quantum Mechanics by Ramsey Interferometry with a Trapped Ion

Quantum mechanics requires the time evolution of the wave function to be linear. While this feature has been associated with the preservation of causality, a consistent causal nonlinear theory was recently developed. Interestingly, this theory is unavoidably sensitive to the full physical spread of the wave function, rendering existing experimental tests for nonlinearities inapplicable. Here, in this work, using well-controlled motional superpositions of a trapped ion, we set a stringent limit of 5.4×10 –12 on the magnitude of the unitless scaling factor $\tilde{ε}_γ$ for the predicted causal nonlinear perturbation.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Annihilation in positron-atom collisions - A new approach

Two identities are derived for the exact scattering wave function by using the method of Hiller, Sucher, and Feinberg. It is shown that the resulting identities can be used to improve the calculation of positron annihilation cross sections whenever an approximate positron-atom scattering wave function is known. In addition, the advantages of the method are illustrated with a static model for e(+)-H scattering and then with a more realistic polarized orbital approximation.

Drachman, R. J.↗

Photoionization of lithium

The photoionization of lithium from threshold to 50 eV above threshold is calculated using the method of polarized orbitals. The method is applied in as orthodox a manner as possible; this means that total wave functions are constructed as by Temkin and Lamkin (1961) using only the static dipole part of the perturbation of core electrons by the outer part of the external electron. According to other previously given prescriptions, both initial (bound) and final (continuum) wave functions are so polarized, only the length form of the matrix is calculated, and bilinear terms from the polarization contributions are retained (although their effect in this calculation is small). The results themselves are essentially identical to those of a recent diagrammatic calculation of Chang and Poe (1975) (in the region below 5 eV where thay have calculated), and as such they differ in certain significant components from exchange-adiabatic and extended-polarization results of Matese and LaBahn (1969) (although their overall result is similar). The s- and p-wave e-Li(+) phase shifts, which are derived as by-products of this calculation, are also presented and compared with other phase-shift calculations.

Bhatia, A. K.↗

Weak entanglement approximation for nuclear structure

The interacting shell model, a configuration-interaction method, is a venerable approach for low-lying nuclear structure calculations, but it is hampered by the exponential growth of its basis dimension as one increases the single-particle space and/or the number of active particles. Recent, quantum-information-inspired work has demonstrated that the proton and neutron sectors of a nuclear wave function are weakly entangled. Furthermore, the entanglement is smaller for nuclides away from N = Z, such as heavy, neutron-rich nuclides. Here, in this study, we implement a weak entanglement approximation to bipartite configuration-interaction wave functions, approximating low-lying levels by coupling a relatively small number of many-proton and many-neutron states. This truncation scheme, which we present in the context of past approaches, reduces the basis dimension by many orders of magnitude while preserving essential features of nuclear spectra.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Gluon amplitudes as 2 d conformal correlators

Recently, spin-one wave functions in four dimensions that are conformal primaries of the Lorentz group S L ( 2 , C ) were constructed. Herein, we compute low-point, tree-level gluon scattering amplitudes in the space of these conformal primary wave functions. The answers show the same conformal covariance as correlators of spin-one primaries in a 2 d CFT. The Britto–Cachazo–Feng–Witten (BCFW) recursion relation between three- and four-point gluon amplitudes is recast into this conformal basis.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Theoretical framework for new magnetic materials for quantum computing and information storage. Final report for the Award No. DE-SC0018910

The focus of this grant was on molecular magnetic materials for information storage and quantum computing. We have been developing robust, first-principle methods for computing relevant electronic and magnetic properties of molecular building blocks (SMMs) of novel magnetic materials and quantum computers. These tools enable theoretical modeling of SMMs’ behavior, facilitating the interpretation of experimental studies and aiding the design of novel magnetic materials. Our strategy is based on the spin-flip (SF) approach, which extends the hierarchy of black-box single-reference methods to strongly correlated systems. Specifically, we developed general scalable algorithms and computer codes for calculating molecular properties, with an emphasis on spin-related properties, such as zero-field splittings, hyperfine couplings, and g-tensors. While our primary focus was on SF wave functions and SF-TDDFT, the underlying theory and computer codes were formulated using reduced density matrices, such that these tools are applicable to a broader class of methods. To extend the scope of applicability of wave-function-based SF methods to larger systems, we developed reduced-scaling approaches for the equation-of-motion coupled-cluster (EOM-CC) methods and continue developing libtensor (our open-source general tensor contraction library for many-body methods). We carried out extensive benchmarks and also carried out several applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Electronic Structure of Excitons in Hematite Fe 2 O 3

We present a computational study of the electronic structure of excitons in hematite Fe 2 O 3 using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT theory. Excitons resulting from solar light absorption are precursors to photogenerated charge carriers, which are the active species in solar-to-fuel redox conversions. Upon vertical excitation, the lowest energy exciton is found to have a multideterminantal wave function, describing an electron excited from O 2p states to Fe 3d states of the nearest basal plane, possibly supporting a recent XUV-derived exciton structure with a radius of a single Fe–O bond. Subsequently, the exciton self-traps into stable electron–hole pair structures whose wave functions are well-approximated by single excitations conveniently labeled “HOMO–LUMO”. Self-trapping yields electron–hole pair structures whereby the electron state (electron polaron-like) is separated from the hole state (hole polaron-like) by 3, 5, 7, 9, ... basal planes in structures referred to as Exc-3, Exc-5, Exc-7, Exc-9, ... The natural transition orbitals (electron–hole states) exhibit a strong “localized” character. The hole state is best described as a (FeO 6 ) + octahedral moiety carrying ~0.65 h + charge, and overall ~70% of the hole is assigned to O 2p atomic states, mostly on the four (4) equatorial O atoms of the moiety. The electron state is best described as a (FeFe) – moiety carrying ~0.80 e – charge in Fe 3d atomic states. The lattice distortions around the hole site exhibit Fe–O bond shortening due to the removal of electron density from an orbital state with O–Fe–O antibonding character. The electron site shows Fe–Fe distance shortening due to excess electron density added to an orbital state with in-phase Fe–Fe interactions. Furthermore, these excitonic structures with increasing electron–hole separation can be viewed as the onset of exciton separation into isolated electrons and hole polarons.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Graphically Contracted Function Construction with the Recursive Pairwise Merge Algorithm

A new implementation of a recursive pairwise merge algorithm to construct a GCF from a list of CSF expansion coefficients is presented. The essential new feature is the preallocation of some work arrays used within the intermediate steps of the merge procedure. This results in roughly an order of magnitude improvement in overall efficiency and also approximately eliminates a factor of n, the molecular orbital dimension, from the original implementation. Initial application of this merge procedure to a series of H m molecules shows that the GCF wave functions can be represented well both with delocalized canonical Hartree-Fock orbitals and with localized molecular orbitals. Finally, for a given wave function complexity, as measured by the average facet count, $\bar{\text {f}}$, the delocalized Hartree-Fock orbitals show smaller errors for small $\bar{\text {f}}$ values, while the localized orbitals show smaller errors for larger $\bar{\text {f}}$ values.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Valence : A Massively Parallel Implementation of the Variational Subspace Valence Bond Method

This work describes the software package, Valence, for the calculation of molecular energies using the variational subspace valence bond (VSVB) method. VSVB is an ab initio electronic structure method based on nonorthogonal orbitals. Important features of practical value include high parallel scalability, wave functions that can be constructed automatically by combining orbitals from previous calculations, and ground and excited states that can be modeled with a single configuration or determinant. Here, the open-source software package includes tools to generate wave functions, a database of generic orbitals, example input files, and a library build intended for integration with other packages. We also present the interface to an external software package, enabling the computation of optimized molecular geometries and vibrational frequencies.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Holographic View of Mixed-State Symmetry-Protected Topological Phases in Open Quantum Systems

We establish a holographic duality between d -dimensional mixed-state symmetry-protected topological (mSPT) phases and ( d + 1 ) -dimensional subsystem symmetry-protected topological (SSPT) states. Specifically, we show that the reduced density matrix of the boundary layer of a ( d + 1 ) -dimensional SSPT state with subsystem symmetry S and global symmetry G corresponds to a d -dimensional mSPT phase with strong S and weak G symmetries. Conversely, we demonstrate that the wave function of an SSPT state can be constructed by replicating the density matrix of the corresponding lower-dimensional mSPT phase. This mapping links the density matrix in lower dimensions to the entanglement properties of higher-dimensional wave functions, providing an approach for analyzing nonlinear quantities and quantum information metrics in mixed-state systems. Our duality offers a new perspective for studying intrinsic mSPT phases that are unique to open quantum systems, without pure-state analogues. We show that strange correlators and twisted Rényi- N correlators can diagnose these nontrivial phases and we explore their connection to strange correlators in pure-state SSPT phases. Furthermore, we discuss several implications of this holographic duality, including a method for preparing intrinsic mSPT phases through the duality. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Sun, Shijun (ORCID:0000000168880030)↗

On the role of dynamic electron correlation in non-orthogonal configuration interaction with fragments

Two different approaches have been implemented to include the effect of dynamic electron correlation in the Non-Orthogonal Configuration Interaction for Fragments (NOCI-F) method. The first is based on shifting the diagonal matrix elements of the NOCI matrix, while the second incorporates the dynamic correlation explicitly in the fragment wave functions used to construct the many-electron basis functions of the NOCI. The two approaches are illustrated for the calculation of the electronic coupling relevant in singlet fission and the coupling of spin moments in organic radicals. Comparison of the calculated diabatic couplings, the NOCI energies and wave functions shows that dynamic electron correlation is not only efficiently but also effectively incorporated by the shifting approach and can largely affect the coupling between electronic states. Additionally, it brings the NOCI coupling of the spin moments in close agreement with benchmark calculations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Evolution of a wave packet scattered by a one-dimensional potential

We consider the evolution of a wave packet that is made up of a group of the wave functions describing the stationary scattering process and tunnels through a one-dimensional potential of arbitrary form. As the main characteristics of the time difference of the tunnelling process, use is made of the propagation speed of the wave-packet maximum. We show that the known Hartman formula for the tunnelling time corresponds to the wave packet with a wavenumber-uniform spectral composition in the case, when the phase and transmission coefficient modulus dispersions are taken into account only in the linear approximation. The amplitude of the main peak of the transmitted wave intensity is proven to be independent of the tunnelling time and is determined by the transmission coefficient of the spectral component at the carrier frequency and the spectral width of the wave packet. In the limit of an infinitely wide potential barrier the amplitude of the wave-packet maximum is shown to tend to zero slower than the tunnelling time tends to its asymptotic value, i.e., indeed we deal with the paradox of an infinitely large propagation speed of a wave disturbance through the barrier. (propagation of wave fronts)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Pentaquarks made of light quarks and their admixture to baryons

This paper is a continuation of our studies of multiquark hadrons. The antisymmetrization of their wave functions required by Fermi statistics is nontrivial, as it mixes orbital, color, spin, and flavor structures. In our previous papers we developed a method to find them based on the representations of the permutation group, and derived the explicit wave functions for baryons excited to the first and second shells (L = 1, 2), tetraquarks $qq$$\overline{q}$$\overline{q}$ and hexaquarks (6q). Now we apply it to light pentaquarks ($qqq$$\overline{q}$), in the S- and P-shells (L = 0, 1). Using Jacobi coordinates, one can use the hyperdistance approximation in 12-dimensional space. We further address the issue of “unquenching” of baryons, by considering their mixing with pentaquarks, via two channels, through the addition of σ-like or π-like $\overline{q}$$q$ pairs. This mixing is central for understanding of the observed flavor asymmetry of the antiquark sea, the amount of orbital motion issue as well as other nucleon properties.

Baryons↗

Probing the QCD origin of Nuclear Forces at JLab12 \& EIC

We review several directions of studies of QCD origin of nuclear forces at EIC. The main emphasis is given to the studies that will be initiated within the 12 GeV fixed target program of the Jefferson Lab and will be continued at EIC energies and collider kinematics. Such studies include the probing QCD content of the NN repulsive core, the role of the gluons in the formation of nuclear forces at short distances, hidden-color component of the nuclear wave function, the dynamics of the quark - hadron transition and hadronization in deep-inelastic semi-inclusive processes involving nuclear targets. We demonstrate how the collider kinematics provide an unprecedented advantage in tagging high momentum components of the nuclear wave function at momenta that are currently considered inaccessible. Utilizing these kinematics we present the theoretical estimates of the several key processes and emphasize their discovery power in probing different aspects of the QCD dynamics of the nuclear forces at short distances.

Sargsian, Misak↗

Representations of Shavitt Graphs Within the Graphical Unitary Group Approach

The Shavitt graph is a visual representation of a distinct row table (DRT) within the graphical unitary group approach. The DRT is a compact representation of the entire configuration state function expansion space within a molecular electronic structure calculation. Each node of the graph is associated with an integer triple (a k , b k , c k ). These integers may be mapped to other quantum numbers, including the number of orbitals, number of electrons, and spin quantum number, and used to display Shavitt graphs in various ways that emphasize different aspects of the expansion space or that reveal different aspects of computed wave functions. In conclusion, the features of several graph density plots are discussed, including electron-hole symmetries and the bonding-antibonding wave function character.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Diffusion Monte Carlo Study of the Structure and Spectroscopy of H 3 O –

A potential energy surface for H 3 O – has been developed based on the NN+(MOB-ML) approach we developed for studies of complexes of OH – with two or three water molecules. Unlike those systems, H 3 O – has two low-energy isomers, H – ·H 2 O and OH – ·H 2 , which differ in energy by less than 2.5 kcal mol –1 , and which are separated by a barrier of roughly 4.5 kcal mol –1 . We find that by training the NN+(MOB-ML) model using structures based on diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) simulations initiated in the two potential minima, we are able to obtain a potential surface that describes both isomers. Using these potentials, the structure and spectra of H 3 O – and its deuterated analogues are investigated using DMC. These calculations show that the ground state wave function for H 3 O – is mainly localized in the H – ·H 2 O minimum in the potential, with a small amount of the probability amplitude (<5%) in the region of the OH – ·H 2 minimum. The delocalization of the wave function into the secondary minimum is lowered by deuteration of the water molecule, while replacing H – with D – increases the isomerization due to the shortening of the average distance between the hydride ion and the hydrogen atom in water to which it is bound. Introducing one quantum of excitation in the H – ···H 2 O stretching vibration increases the amount of isomerization, while the isomerization decreases with additional excitation of this mode. Excitation of the free OH stretch in the water molecule also increases the amount of isomerization, while excitation of the out-of-plane bending vibration suppresses the isomerization. Furthermore, the effects of partial deuteration on the frequencies for these vibrations are also explored.

Chemical structure↗

Complementary first and second derivative methods for ansatz optimization in variational Monte Carlo

We present a comparison between a number of recently introduced low-memory wave function optimization methods for variational Monte Carlo in which we find that first and second derivative methods possess strongly complementary relative advantages. While we find that low-memory variants of the linear method are vastly more efficient at bringing wave functions with disparate types of nonlinear parameters to the vicinity of the energy minimum, accelerated descent approaches are then able to locate the precise minimum with less bias and lower statistical uncertainty. By constructing a simple hybrid approach that combines these methodologies, we show that all of these advantages can be had at once when simultaneously optimizing large determinant expansions, molecular orbital shapes, traditional Jastrow correlation factors, and more nonlinear many-electron Jastrow factors.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Study of diatomic molecules. 2: Intensities

The theory of perturbations, giving the diatomic effective Hamiltonian, is used for calculating actual molecular wave functions and intensity factors involved in transitions between states arising from Hund's coupling cases a,b, intermediate a-b, and c tendency. The Herman and Wallis corrections are derived, without any knowledge of the analytical expressions of the wave functions, and generalized to transitions between electronic states with whatever symmetry and multiplicity. A general method for studying perturbed intensities is presented using primarily modern spectroscopic numerical approaches. The method is used in the study of the ScO optical emission spectrum.

Femenias, J. L.↗